Articles

The LCK 2018 Season Primer

POSTED BY Ram Ronquillo ON January 13, 2018

The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) has been the league to beat in the past five years, as it has been the home league of the past five World Champions; SK Telecom T1, Samsung Galaxy White, and Samsung Galaxy.

The Korean league has chosen to keep its double round robin, best-of-three format with the top five teams continuing to the Playoffs. On the opposite side of the table, the bottom two teams play in the Summer Promotion tournament. The Playoff format remains to be the best-of-five gauntlet where there are three rounds of action before the Finals. The top team by the end of the regular Split receives a direct bye into the Finals while the second and third team receive byes into the third and second round, respectively.

SK Telecom T1 will be a good team to keep an eye on. They’ve lost their first World Championship Final in the hands of Samsung Galaxy and it has surely lit a fire in the team. Their top laner and jungler, Huni and Peanut have also since left the team. Along with this, the team has signed new talents in the top lane and jungle, Thal and Blossom, respectively.

Other teams to watch for are Kingzone DragonX, KSV eSports, and KT Rolster. Kingzone DragonX under their previous name, Longzhu Gaming, won their first Split in the Summer but faltered in the World Championship. Their roster has since been kept intact with the addition of the former SK Telecom T1 jungler, Peanut. KSV eSports on the other hand had just won the World Championship under their former banner, Samsung Galaxy. The team has kept its roster since 2016. One can only wonder how much more successes the team can have especially under a new banner. Lastly, the South Korean super team has kept their super team status. However they ended the Summer Split in disappointment and will surely look for retribution.

The LCK begins on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at 4 PM (GMT+8) where Kingzone DragonX is set to face KSV Esports. Broadcast will be live on Twitch and Youtube.